Railroad-tie.



2../. f if @www R. B. CAMPBELL.

RAILROAD TIE.

PATENTED JAN. 23, 1906.-

APPLIOATION FILED OCT. 12. 1905.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 1.

No. 810,393. PATBNTBD JAN. 23, 1906. R. B. CAMPBELL.

RAILROAD TIE.

APPLIGATION FILED 0o1.12. 1905 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ffy-@537225 lw M160 l UNITED STATES PATENT orrron.

ROBERT B. CAMPBELL, OF J OLIET, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOHIMSELF AND ONE-HALF TO ALEXANDER F.. BANKS, OF EVANSTON,

ILLINOIS.

RAlLoAD-TIE.

Patented Jan. 23, 1906.

Application filed October 12. 1905. Serial No. 282.402.

T all whom, t may concern.-

Beit known that I, ROBERT B. CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Joliet, in the county of Will, State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Ties, of whichthe followingr is a specification, referencev being had to theaccompanying drawings.

My invention relates particularly to railroad-ties formed from cement orconcrete' or other suitable plastic material, with which are combinedone or more longitudinallydisposed metal parts, such as an iron tube,embedded in the plastic material. Ties of this general description areold; but'mylinvention has for its objects to provide means for impartinggreater strength to the tie as a whole than has been attained in formerconstructions, to provide an improved construction for affording abetter seat for the plates that are commonly interposed between the baseof the rail and the tie, to improve the shape of the tie, so that itwill rest more se- -curely on the ground and be less liable to becomebroken or disintegrated by the passage of trains, and to improvegenerally the construction of railroad-ties of this class.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of that portion of my improvedtie over which' the rail is laid. Fig. 2 is a cross-section at line 2 2of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the U-shaped support shown inFig. 2, the tie-body being shown in section. Fig. 4 is a view similar toFig. 1, but showing a modification in the construction of the U-shapedsupport device. Fig. 5 is a cross-section at line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6is a side elevation of a portion of a tie embodying therein the devicesshown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the portion of thetie shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6, but showing themodification illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. Fig9 is a plan view of thedevices shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a section taken at line 10 10 ofFig. 7. Fig. l1 is a section taken at line l1 11 of Fig. 7. Fig. 12 isan end view showing another modification in the construction of theU-shaped support and its top piece.

Referring to the several figures of the drawings, in which correspondingparts are indicated by the same reference-numerals, indicates the bodyof the tie, formed of a suitable plastic material, such as cement orconcrete. strengthening-cores, which in the construction shown are inthe form of tubes. These core-pieces extend from end to end ofthe tie.Two of such cores are shown; but it is evident that one core only may beemployed, if so desired.

17 indicates laterally-enlarged portions oi"4 the tie, one such enlargedportion being near each end of the tie and at the place thereon wherethe rail is to be supported bythe tie. Within each enlarged portion 17-is placed a U-shaped support 18, the open ends of such support beingtoward the ends of the tie, which arrangement of supports enables themto pass around the interior supporting cores or tubes 16 without cominin contact therewith and yet at the same time allow such U- shapedsupports to be embedded in the material of the tie-body. The upper endsof the sides of these U-shaped supportsterminate in tongues 19, whichass through suitable openings in a cover-p ate 20, that rests upon thetop of the enlarged portion 17 of the tie-body 15, such tongues beingthen alternately turned inward and outward and pressed down fiat, asclearly shown in Fig. 2, whereby the cover-plate 20 is held firmly inposition. As shown, this cover-plate 20 has at each side an upturnedflange 21,between which flanges a suitable plate, of-lead, wood, orother material, is adapted to fit and upon which the rail rests, asusual. As shown, the sides and bottom of the U-shaped support are cut atintervals, so as to form prongs 22, which are bent inward, so as to holdthe said support 18 with great firmness in the material of which thetie-body is composed. It has been found desirable in ties of this classto bevel the lower edges of the tie; but I have discovered that the lifeof the tie is apt to be much much greater if the central portion of thetie has its lower edges beveled very considerably more than the loweredges of that portion of the tie between the end and the enlargedportion 17, and I have embodied such construction in the tie hereillustrated,

the smaller bevel at the ends of the tie being indicated by 23 ,whilethe large bevel at the central portion of the tie is indicated by 24. Bymaking the center ofthe bottom face of the tie of less Width than theend portions by beveling the lower edges, as described, f centerbinding, as it is termed, of the tie is prevent- 16 indicates twointerior metal 55 ed. This center binding is caused by the tamping ofthe earth beneath the center of the tie, due to vibrations oroscillations of the tie as trains pass over it. By beveling the tie inthis manner it is obvious that a less surface exposed horizontally tothe bottom of the tie will give less resistance and Will not tamp to theextent that a broad surface Would. Such lessening of thetamping resultsin longer life to the tie.

In Fig. 12 I have illustrated the U-shaped support as being formed ofcorrugated sheet metal, such support in that ligure being indicated by18a. Its cover-plate is precisely the same as the cover-plate indicatedin the construction hereinbeiore described and is therefore indicated bythe same reference numeral-to Wit,20and the locking-tongues being thesame as in the irst-described construction are indicated as in theformer-described construction.

Both forms of U-shaped supports-that is, the one made from the plainmaterial and the one made from the corrugated material--are ada ted tobe made from sheet metal stamped in t e required form.

In Figs. 4, 5, 8, and 9 I have illustrated a form of support in Whichthe U-shaped portion and its cover-plate are formed integral by casting.This U-shaped support in these figures I have indicated by 18", thecover-plate that is formed therewith by 20, and the vertical flanges onthe cover-plate by 21h.

In all of the cover-plates shown there are provided holes 25 near thesides and a hole 26 near each end, the side holes 25 being adapted toreceive bolts-such, for example,

as shown in Fig. 6 or S-by means of which clips are attached in placeagainst opposite sides of the base of the rail in order to secure suchrail in place, While the holes 26 are provided for receiving bolts thatare adapted to engage chairs that hold the rails in place, as is commonin some forms of railroad construction.

In the sides, bottom, and top ofthe solid U- shaped support of Figs. 4,5, S, and 9 I prefer to form openings into which the plastic materialmay pass, which of course tends to. bind the said support more firmly inplace, and by the plastic material filling the openings in the sidesthis mass of material becomes a homogeneous mass and is less liable tobecome disintegrated or fall away from the U-shaped support. In Figs. 4,5, and 9 the openings referred to in the top plate are clearly shown,and in Fig. 5 the openings in the sides and bottom are indicated bydotted lines. Openings for the same purpose may be formed, if desired,in the corrugated 6o sheet-metal support illustrated in Fig. 12.

By arranging those parts which are herein referred to as U-shapedsupports so that their open ends are toward the ends ofthe ties the fullstrength of the supports is obtained, as they of course do not form anyobstruction to the longitudinal cores or tubes, and consequently nocutting of the sides of such U- shaped supports is necessary, as hasbeen the case With some constructions employing a support in connectionWith an interior longitudinal core.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a railroad-tie, the combination With a tie-body formed of plasticmaterial, of a substantially U-shaped support embedded in said body,said support arranged with its open ends toward the ends of the tie, anda cover-plate resting upon said support, substantially as speciiied.

2. In a railroad-tie, the combination of a tie-body formed of plasticmaterial, an interior core, and a substantially U-shaped supportsurrounding said core, Said support arranged with its open ends towardthe ends of the tie, With a cover-plate attached to said support,substantially as specified.

3. In a railroad-tie, the combination with a tie-body formed of plasticmaterial, of a substantially U-shaped support embedded in said body,said support arranged with its open ends toward the ends of the tie andprovided With projections, in combination With a cover-plate attached tosaid support, substantially as specified.

4. In a railroadtie, the combination with a tie-body formed of plasticmaterial, of a substantially U-shaped support embedded in said body, anda cover-plate resting upon said support, said cover-plate having flangesat opposite edges, substantially as specified.

5. In a railroad-tie, the combination With a tie-body formed of plasticmaterial, of a substantially U-shaped support embedded in said body, andprovided at its upper ends with tongues, and a cover-plate adapted to besecured to said support by said tongues, substantially as specified.

ROBERT B. CAMPBELL.

Iitnessesz OSCAR F. CLARK, W. H. OLIVER.

